China’s 11 cities so big they’ve all merged into 1 mega-city of 70m | World | News
The world’s population is growing, which means cities are expanding.
Even though China no longer boasts the highest number of people living in one country, having been overtaken by India in 2023, its cities are still some of the largest on Earth.
In fact, some are so big that they have started to merge into one massive mega-settlement.
Part of China’s Guangdong province in the Pearl River estuary, known as the Greater Bay Area (GBA), in effect combines 11 cities, from Macao all the way around to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
The metropolis has a total population of more than 70 million – two million more people than the UK.
They live in an area that’s roughly a fifth of the size, the World Economic Forum reports.
The region is also just as large economically, generating £1.39 trillion in 2018. Its GDP is 11.6% of China’s total.
This was no accident, as China has prioritised the development of coastal regions by setting up several Special Economic Zones.
Academics state that these are “based on resource-intensive, low-value added and export-led manufacturing, as well as Hong Kong’s international markets and human capital”.
In 2011, the Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong governments launched a public consultation exercise with an aim to transform the bay area into a “quality living” and “pioneer” area of a new mode of economic development.
This would be “driven by high-tech industrial systems, with mobile production factors amidst a superior quality of living”, a Planning Theory and Practice article details.
Experts also mention an “ambitious initiative to upscale China’s manufacturing industry” announced in 2015 – Made in China.
An Outline of the Development Plan (ODP) for the GBA can be seen as “part of China’s effort to transform its manufacturing industry, greening its economy and moving the nation towards an ecological civilisation”, they add.
Public transport is also said to be of a good standard in the region, as two new intercity rail lines have joined the existing network.
Its nine cities see an average of more than six million daily intercity trips, CGTN reports.
